Dear Stanford School of Medicine Alumni and Friends,

At the Stanford School of Medicine, we believe that our best hope for advancing human health lies at the intersection of research, education, and patient care. Each supports and strengthens the other; research breakthroughs and high-technology advances lead to more effective therapies, while our commitment to improving the health and well-being of our patients inspires our research and teaching endeavors.

The Stanford Challenge represents our commitment to lead the way in the search for new biomedical knowledge, the training of the next generation of innovative and insightful health care leaders, and the development of novel patient therapies.

Toward this end, we pledge the very best of ourselves—the distinction of our faculty, the promise of our students, and the pioneering spirit that has long inspired us—to meeting this immense challenge. Yet we cannot do it alone.

Gifts of all sizes to a wide variety of programmatic areas—cancer, cardiology, neurosciences, medical education, and more—provide the essential support we must have to do the important work before us. I invite you to explore the many ways that you can partner with us through The Stanford Challenge.

	Sincerely,
	Philip A. Pizzo, MD The Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the   School of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics and of   Microbiology and Immunology